Author of 'Secrets of the Henna Girl'. Expect lots about girls rights, school visits and anything that takes my fancy.

Monday, 10 April 2017

Being able to pursue a career in publishing is dependent on family life says Ayisha Malik

Nadiya
Hussain, the winner of the 2015 Great British Bake Off, is a name that most
will recognise on the cover of a new fiction book ‘The Secret Life of the Amir
Sisters’.

The release
of the book recently caused a Twitter spat when another author, Jenny Colgan, objected
to the fact that Hussain had co-written it with a lesser known author, Ayisha
Malik. In her Guardian review Colgan claimed that ‘the worst thing about this
[book] is that it feels greedy’.

Many
objected as to why in the age of celebrity ghost-written hardbacks galore, it
was the Muslim woman’s book which was deemed as ‘one too many’.

I ask
Ayisha her thoughts on the whole issue over a recent coffee. Her response is to
shrug, preferring to talk instead about her new release.

‘The Other
Half of Happiness’ is the sequel to her debut novel ‘Sofia Khan is not
obliged’.

“It’s a
book which looks at how well really think you know someone,” she says, the gold
bangles jingling on her wrists as she adjusts her hijab. “Sofia Khan is now
living as a married woman in Karachi.”

I mention
the depiction of the father’s character in the first book. Although it seemed
to be marketed as a ‘single girl finds the one’, it was actually Sofia’s
relationship with her parents which stood out for me.

A love
letter to her parents perhaps?

Unexpectedly
her eyes well up with tears.

“Yes, it
was. It was a love letter to my Dad. He died when I was 14. He was 49.”

She wants
to talk about him. “His cause of death was so unnecessary.” She dabs her eyes.
“He had a kidney condition and had to have dialysis every day. And then when I
was 14, he wanted to go for my uncle’s wedding to Pakistan. He needed his
dialysis equipment so we cargoed it.”

She pauses
and to my horror I slowly realise what happened.

“The
equipment never arrived. He spent three days without the dialysis. The Pakistan
hospitals didn’t have the equipment. He died on the fourth day.”

Negligence,
I say out loud as if it had never occurred to her.

She shrugs.
“It was my widowed mother and her two teenage daughters. Just the three of us.
We didn’t know how or what to do with the cargo company. My mum just got on
with raising her daughters. She’s a strong woman.” Her face lights up. “She
gave me the space to achieve what I wanted. She even funded my Masters in
Creative Writing.”

I agree
with her. Our mothers’ generation are like solid rocks, providing stability and
unconditional love to allow daughters to achieve what the first generation of
immigrants could only ever dream of.

Is she
working on anything else? “Yes, the second book with Nadiya. It’s a three book
deal.”

So Ayisha’s
name will occupy more shelf space than any other British Asian author at a given
time. How did it all start?

“Nine years
ago I was the only hijabi in publishing. I think there are a few more now but
back then it was just me working as a publicity assistant. I began with two
weeks work experience at Random House, then temped for a few months before I
was offered a part time job. Oh, the amount of photo copying I did.’ She
smiles. “Finally a full-time vacancy came up and I was told it was mine if I
wanted it.

“I think
being able to pursue a career in publishing is very dependent on family life. I
was never pressured to pursue law or medicine or any of the other popular Asian
parent preferences. This allowed me to chase my dream which is not really
common. Asian parents don’t push their children to be creative. I was able to
do it because I had a stable financial position at home.”

Did she
think she was treated differently as a hijabi?

“Publishing
is a very middle class white environment. I was treated well ...of course I
was. Yet, I was a novelty to many. Anything unknown is a novelty. I know there
is a lot of talk about the need for change as regards diversity in the
industry. I think ignorance is a harsh word and used often, but lack of
knowledge doesn’t come from bad intentions. It’s about fostering diverse
relationships."

‘The Other Side
of Happiness’ is released in April 2017

The Secret
Life of the Amir Sisters is published by HQ

Sofia Khan
is Not Obliged is published by Twenty7

Sufiya
Ahmed is the author of Secrets of the Henna Girl, published by Puffin Books.

About Sufiya

Sufiya is the author of 'Secrets of a Henna Girl' published by Puffin Books.
She spends all her time writing stories and visiting schools to talk about her books.
Sufiya set up the BIBI Foundation to encourage teenagers from under-privileged and diverse backgrounds to visit the Houses of Parliament and learn more about the democratic process.